“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority,” Jesus informed his disciples. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7-8). We are thus alerted to the Catholic or universal character of the church. Coupled with what was identified in earlier articles, concerning that it is one and holy.

Accordingly, Paul observed: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, for all are one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:28-29). Giving rise to Marvin Wilson’s insightful text: Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith.

The universal character of the church is graphically illustrated by Helmut Thielike. “Once, kneeling in the prairie sand of South Africa, I celebrated the Lord’s Supper with some Hereto tribesmen,” he allows. “Neither of us understood a single word of the other’s language. But when I made the sign of the cross with my hand, and pronounced the name ‘Jesus’ their dark faces lit up. We ate the same bread and drank from the same chalice, despite apartheid, and they couldn’t do enough to show me their love” (I Believe: The Christian’s Creed, p. 231).

“We are separated by social, geographical and cultural barriers,” he continues. “And yet we were enclosed by arms that were not of this world.”

Which recalls a time when I was on a short term teaching assignment in Nigeria and invited to participate in an ordination service. At one point, participants were asked to gather around the young man being ordained, and place a hand on his head. As I looked down, there were several small black hands and one large white hand — my own.

There suddenly came over me an awesome sense of the universal character of the Christian fellowship. Something I had largely given lip service to previously, but now felt overwhelmed with its reality.

It was sometime later I heard the noted evangelist Billy Graham refer to the experience of being a world Christian. Which brought to mind the above instance and its lingering impression.

The church universal precludes cultural colonialism. That is, the temptation to impose our cultural preferences on others. Whereas any culture may serve as a medium through which to herald the good news. Some providing a better means that others.

For instance, a Nigerian colleague observed when the Orange Skin (so-called because his skin resembled the inside of an orange) announced God so loved the world that he sent his beloved Son, understood this meant that the High God had revealed his wishes.

Since it was commonly understood that one’s parent is known by the behavior of his or her offspring. “Good,” he heartily concluded, “now I shall know what he would have me do.” Not surprising that a culture oriented to this way of thinking demonstrated a rare openness to the gospel.

On the other hand, no culture is above reproach. Since some culturally approved behavior is detrimental, and other features could be improved upon.

Cultural separatism is no less acceptable. That is, the inclination to withdraw into one’s own culture — while leaving others to fend for themselves. Which brings to mind an occasion when I had returned from an overseas assignment.

“It must seem good to get back to a big church,” one of my friends observed. When I informed him the church we had been attending was in fact large, he protested: “But were they really Christians?”

At this, I confessed that the thought had not occurred to me. “What did come to mind,” I readily admitted, “Was the question whether we are Christians.” Given the relative zeal and fidelity expressed by the overseas congregation. With such in mind, welcome to the church universal.